Threads of Our Lives (Open Eonia SL)

[Koyliak]

“Here comes I, here comes I!” Quatek scuttled dangerously close to Uek’e’go, snagging at a vivid blue and silver checkered ribbon before it disappeared in the black sphere’s fathomless depths. Smaller than most Neee’n, Quatek prided himself on his speed instead. He quickly retreated back to his cloudy perch clutching his prize between two elongated fingers.

”Do not play this way. You should devour.” Jalta’s deep baritone thought rumbled through Quatek’s mind. It felt pleasant and he closed his masked eyes to enjoy its vibration. They were from the same cirrus which left Jalta often looking to correct Quatek’s odd quirks out of both care and embarrassment.

“But this pretty-ditties my collection!” Quatek half-whined and shoved the ribbon closer to Jalta’s large head, careful to keep it away from his mouth. A royal Gnomish wedding in an underground cavern dotted with gorgeous stalagmites spooled out along the shimmery ribbon.

The image played long enough to watch the entire ceremony but Jalta did not make it past the officiant Moon Rabbit’s opening remarks. “One day you will flicker too close to Uek’e’go and not return, all for this childish game.”

Quatek huffed, the sound bubbling and appearing briefly in the air between them. “Collection,” he corrected. “Not game. You have your own sport with the visitors, leave me mine. Anything that makes it out here must be rarest! There is much to consume in the city that strikes me fine without a tragedy in losing it. I can have both.”

The yellow skull helmet shook as Jalta frowned at his kin. “One day this will be the undoing, mark me.”

“Marked, marked, now will you go?” Quatek turned shooing Jalta into another game to further annoy him. It worked. The bigger Neee’n lumbered away. Quatek waited until he no longer could see his shape before retrieving his sweet box from a hidden opening in a nearby cloud. He happily deposited the ribbon with the others in his collection, there whenever he wanted to revisit them.

((This is an open and ongoing writing prompt for anyone interested! Inspired in part by Matt’s Elements Askew, this thread is open if you’d like to write what appears on Quatek’s ribbons in the Opal Realm of Eonia.

This could be an alternate version of your character in another dimension, what their life would have looked like if they made a different choice along the way, or a completely new scene / story with characters we haven’t met yet. Posts can be one sentence, one scene, an entire story with a solid beginning, middle and end - whatever strikes your fancy!))

[Koyliak]

“Too tame. Sour. Yeck, this one looks like gut rot.” Quatek’s scissor-like fingers flipped quickly through the ribbons he had gathered earlier in Yohtar. Jalta would have scolded him for fidgeting with his food. But Quatek knew the wrong combination of ribbons would give way to aches. He was a Neee’n prone to indigestion.

He soon landed on the right ingredients. In his breezing years, Quatek was known for his wild recipes. Many from his cirrus would shovel ribbons into their large mouths with no regard for taste. Not Quatek. He loved the challenge as no meal could ever be had twice. Ribbons could be similar but no two were exactly the same.

Today he opted for a dish of love. Pale pink ribbon showing a couple awaiting their first child mixed with orange and gold strands of different lovers. He tore off a pinch of a red lightening bolt pattern featuring a fiery romance. “A little spice to make it nice.”

Humming to himself, the first bite felt like perfection. The warm emotions envisioned resonated through Quatek’s form as he ate. Slurp, belch, then slurp again!

Zap zip zap.

Quatek heard the glowing shreds shooting out of the whirling maelstrom before he saw the darkening whirlpool of clouds.

Zap zip zip zap.

“What storm is this?!” Quatek gave an excited shriek. Sharp shreds flew by, threatening to slice anything in their path. They headed straight towards Uek’e’go as if the black sphere beckoned them forward. Quatek knew he needed to move fast.

Risking life and limb, Quatek phased high and low, drawing closer to Uek’e’go. He opened the mesh pouch at his hip and threw each shred he snagged inside. They rattled around, alive with the pulsing energy he only saw emerge from these types of storm clouds.

“The dew-shard, the dew-shard, must find the dew-shard!” Quatek sang to himself.

Storms like this often had a dew-shard - a pivotal moment in a lifestream where a choice made brought destructive consequences. For someone who cherished the stories held within the ribbons like Quatek, finding the dew-shard became critical to understanding the pieces he had.

The wind picked up. The remaining shreds tore through honeyed clouds in a furious finale. One wrong move and Quatek would find himself thrown into the sphere itself. Or yet worse, he would only capture half the vision!

“There!” Between two long fingers he trapped a teardrop shaped fragment. Larger than the rest and smooth, the dew-shard sparkled in front of his eyes.

Quatek burrowed his way deep into the safety of a cloud out of the dying storm’s trajectory. With a giddy laugh he examined this moment so he would understand the other shreds in his pouch.

A beach at night. Crashing waves and moonlight illuminating the couple sitting on the shore.

He could smell the salt air. It should have been more soothing but something about the dew-shard’s vision sent a delicious, if terrifying, thrill through Quatek.

“Ye can’t control it, Matt.”

“You’re right.” The man looked up at the elven woman.

Something behind the man’s eyes flashed. Was there another Quatek saw within him? He would watch it a second time.

“Here, Koyliak, take her.” The man offered a black stone to the woman. She recoiled in horror.

A long pause between the two. The woman called Koyliak drew a deep breath. Quatek felt her internal struggle. She wanted to flee but love called on her to stay.

“Ok.”

She swallowed her fear. It caught in her throat as she wrapped her fingers around the stone. Quatek sensed a deep satisfaction. It swept over him. He looked again and saw it emanated not from the people but from their shadows on the sand.